Pictures on the Wall
by wibbelkind
Summary: Prosper just wanted to ask Hornet a quick question about math homework. Turns out that 'Keep out' signs really mean that you shouldn't enter the room...


_So this is it. My first Fanfic I am publishing here. I've had this on my laptop for at least a year, so it's old stuff. The Characters, of course, do not belong to me but to the lovely Cornelia Funke. I would love some reviews just to see if anybody's still interested in Thief Lord Fanfics. Also, I considered putting this into several chapters but then again, it's already finished, so this is just one kind of long One-Shot. Enjoy._

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><p>Prosper knocked. No answer. He knocked for the second time. "Hornet?" He had been so sure she was there in her room. The door squeaked when he opened it. "Hornet's room – Keep out!" That's what it said on the small sign on the door but Prosper ignored it.<p>

He hadn't been in Hornet's room since they had moved downstairs from the attic. He had been too busy with arranging Bo's and his own room to notice what Ida and Hornet were doing in the other, smaller room. And after that, Hornet had always come over to his room but never let him inside hers. "I don't want it to get all messy again," she had said. Prosper didn't mind. But now he was taken by surprise. Ida and Hornet had painted the room yellow. Yellow like rays of sunshine flashing through the windows. It was beautiful.

But what caught Prosper's eyes was that one part of the wall over Hornet's tidy bed was covered in photographs and drawings. Most of the photographs were taken by Ida, Prosper recognized her style. The drawings... Well, he was almost sure that Hornet herself had done them. There were pictures of Riccio and Mosca, who were now living in an old run-down warehouse in Castello and had their own boat. They still came to visit sometimes. Then there was Scipio, now a grown-up man and Victor's assistant detective. Ida and Victor were pictured too and there were lots of photographs of Bo. Prosper had always known that his little brother was a weakness of Hornet's. But he couldn't get past noticing who filled most of the wall: His own face.

Even most of the drawings were of him. He had noticed Hornet drawing around him a lot but it had never occurred him that she was actually drawing him. And then the photos. Lots and lots of photos, some with Bo on them, too. Even the one that his mother had taken on his 11th birthday, which had ended up in Victor's office. Hornet must've asked for it with some excuse. And then there was one from a recent boat-trip, Hornet leaning on him in the front seat of Ida's boat. They were both smiling for the camera. It made him smile again now, just looking at the picture.

It was hard to tear himself away from the pictures but when he turned around he saw himself facing a girl with long, dark, braided hair, looking like the sting of a hornet which gave her her name. "Hornet...," he started but she stared at him in disbelief. "What are you doing in here?", she shouted at him, sounding a bit hysterical. "Get out, right now!" She pointed towards the door. "Listen, Hornet, I'm sorry..." "Out!" She hardly ever shouted at anyone but Prosper knew too well that when she did, she was not to mess with. Hastily he got out of the yellow room.

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><p>No word fell between them during dinner. Only angry looks from Hornet when he met her eyes. Even Victor who was over for a visit could smell something was wrong. "What's up with you guys?" he asked as he passed the spaghetti to Ida. "Have you been fighting?" Prosper almost expected Hornet to say something like "Prop was in my room, blahblahblah", but she remained silent. "Prosper?" He looked up at Ida whose questioning eyes were hard as steel. "Nothing," he lied and wondered why Hornet wouldn't say anything. "Well, if it is nothing then you sure don't mind watching Bo tonight," Ida said. "Victor and I are going out and we need two responsible young adults who don't fight to watch the little one." "I can watch myself!" Bo protested. "And my kittens!" "We'll do it." Hornet spoke for the first time, glancing at Prosper. Ida smiled. "Thank you, Caterina." Prosper turned his face back at his spaghetti.<p>

Ida and Victor left almost immediately after dinner which left the children to deal with the dishes. "I'll do it," Prosper murmured. As he turned to the dishwasher he could hear Hornet behind his back saying: "Come on, Bo, we'll play some Monopoly before you go to bed." "What's wrong with you and Prop?" "Nothing." "You've been fighting, haven't you? Even Victor noticed!" Prosper couldn't hear Hornet's reply because they turned into the living room and she shut the door. Sighing he put the dirty dishes into the dishwasher and then went up, past Hornet's clearly forbidden room towards the one that he shared with Bo.

Sharing a room with Bo didn't leave him much privacy but he loved his little brother to death and was afraid that he might still get nightmares about Aunt Esther when sleeping alone. If Bo started talking too much – and the little one could get really annoying – Prosper would tell him to shut up and Victor had also installed a curtain which could be drawn between the two halves of the room. Then there was Bo's part and Prosper's part. But mostly it remained open. Especially at night. As he now came into the room, Prosper walked straight over to his desk to finish his maths homework. He wasn't as good at it as Hornet but his chances to ask her about it now were at a minimum. He would have to figure them out himself.

After about an hour, Bo came up. "Hornet's watching a movie on telly. She told me to come up here." "Guess it's time for bed then, little one." Prosper shut his book and turned around, facing his brother. "Hornet's not gonna tell me," Bo complained. Prosper looked at him quizzically. "Tell you what?" "Why you've been fighting." "Oh, well... It's nothing of great importance." "You can't fool me, Prop. I'm not five years old any more." "I know." "So why is she mad at you?" "I really don't know, Bo. Sometimes girls are a miracle to me. Come on now, let's get you to bed." Bo started undressing and putting on his pyjamas while he kept on talking. "I think she still likes you, though." "I hope so... We're like brother and sister, aren't we? It's normal to fight..." "You don't know what it's like to have a sister." "Well, no, but I know what it's like to have an annoying little brother." Prosper smiled at Bo and tickled him. "Stop! Stop it, Prop!" The little one threw himself on the bed. "That wasn't fair." "See what I mean? Even we get into little arguments sometimes." "Yeah, but I don't think you and Hornet just had an argument. And anyways, we always make up because you're my big brother and I love you." Bo slid under the sheets. "Goodnight, Bo," Prosper said and gave his little brother a kiss on the forehead. "I love you too." When he got to the door and turned out the lights, Bo asked: "Are you gonna make up with Hornet now?" "I'll try." Even in the dark Prosper could sense that the little one smiled.

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><p>Hornet was sitting in the living room, watching TV like Bo had said. She didn't turn around when Prosper entered the room. "Hornet?" He leaned over the back of the couch on which she was sitting. "You want something to drink?" It was silent for a while except for the noise from the TV. "Coke." That was the only word she uttered. He turned and went to the kitchen. Coke was always in the fridge, he took the whole bottle and two glasses as well as a bag of Hornet's favourite wine gum. "There you go." He sat down next to her and poured her some coke. She didn't even look at the glass. Prosper glanced at the TV-screen. Titanic. Why did girls like this film so much anyway? He looked at Hornet, her eyes were glistening with tears. "Hey," he said, touching her elbow. "You're okay?" She didn't answer but she didn't pull away either. She didn't even react when he turned off the TV. Maybe, it occurred Prosper, she just needed an excuse for crying.<p>

"You're still mad at me?" he asked. She shrugged. "I swear, I was just looking for you because of maths homework. I didn't mean to..." "I just don't like people looking at my stuff." The first full sentence from her. "You mean the pictures?" "That too. It's private." Prosper didn't want to argue about his and Bo's room being private too but he thought that maybe because she was a girl, privacy had more meaning for her. He didn't mind her coming in at every minute of the day. "It won't happen again," he promised. "Good," Hornet replied coolly. He could feel that she was still mad at him. "Wine gums? They're your favourites..." He offered her the bag and she took some. "I'm sorry, Hornet, I really am. Why can't you forgive me that easy?" Instead of answering she just leaned her head on his shoulder. It felt like forgiveness and it also felt like his body was tingling where they touched. He put his arms around her in comfort and he realized that she was crying again and he didn't know why.

She stopped weeping after a while but remained motionless in his arm. "Had a bad day?" he tried. She nodded, pulling out a tissue to blow her nose. "Did I make it worse?", Prosper asked. She shrugged. "Maybe." He hugged her. "Sorry." She put her arms around him in reply, seeking his comfort more than ever. "What's wrong, Hornet?" he asked, knowing that he wouldn't get a precise answer. Instead he just held her, trying to comfort her as good as he could.

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><p>When Ida and Victor came home they found Prosper and Hornet lying on the sofa, sleeping. She still had her arms around him and he was muttering in his sleep. Ida smiled and then whispered: "I wonder how much longer they will need to find about how they really feel." "Should we wake them?" "No. Let's just get them a blanket." She turned around, still smiling and shoved Victor out of the room.<p>

Of course Bo was wide awake when Prop tried to sneak into the room in the middle of the night. "Were have you been?" he asked at once. Prosper almost freaked out. "Jesus, Bo, shouldn't you be sleeping?" "You weren't there when I woke up." "I was just in the living room, we fell asleep on the couch." "Did you make up?" "Yes. Now get back to sleep!" "Okay, okay!" Bo turned around and pulled the sheet over his head. Prosper sighed and got into bed himself. As he lay down and closed his yes, he could still feel Hornet's arms wrapped around him. And he started wondering if it was a coincidence that most of the pictures on her wall were of him.

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><p>He was woken up by Bo in the morning. "Come on, sleepyhead!" the little one shouted, jumping up and down on the end of Prosper's bed. "Have you forgotten what day is today?" "It's a Saturday and you should let me sleep, you dummy," Prosper muttered. "Wrong!" Bo cried. "It's Hornet's birthday!" "Shit!" Prosper jumped out of his bed. "Bo, you better be joking..." He stared at the calendar hanging at the wall. His little brother was right. It was Hornet's birthday. He cursed again and stormed away to the bathroom. How could he forget? He hadn't even gotten her a present. He was a total idiot.<p>

He got down last for breakfast. Ida, Bo and Hornet were already sitting around the table, Hornet unpacking a stack of presents while Ida was pouring them all cocoa. "Happy Birthday, birthday-girl", Prosper said, wrapping his arms around Hornet from behind in a warm embrace. She turned around smiling. "Thanks, Prop." He let her go, scratching his head. "I have to be honest, I didn't get you a present," he said. "I'm really sorry but how 'bout we go out tonight, watch a film or do something else you like..." "Go out?" "Yeah..." "Wow, Prosper, that's... nice." Hornet beamed at him. "I would love to." "Great..." Prosper smiled and let her go to sit down next to Bo. When he grabbed a toast he could tell from Hornet's eyes that his spontaneous idea hat been a good one.

They had agreed during the day to go to the big cinema near Piazza San Marco and watch Spiderman 2. Prosper was relieved to find out that Hornet didn't seem to think of it as a date-thing because she didn't dress up or anything special. Of course he couldn't quite tell because she wore pretty clothes the whole day and always looked nice. But when they left the house, happily chattering away until they came to the cinema, Prosper was pretty sure that this was only a thing between friends.

The film was great, although they agreed on sequels mostly being not as good as the original films. "Tobey Maguire was great, wasn't he?", Prosper went on as they came out of the cinema. "Did you like it?" "Like what?", Hornet asked bewildered. "The film,", Prosper replied, waving his hand in front of her eyes. "Hello? Anybody home?" "Sorry, Prop, I was thinking of something else..." Hornet took a glance around, even in the evening the Piazza San Marco was filled with tourists. "You're all right?" he asked. She looked at him, now smiling again. "Yes," she replied, taking his hand. "Come on." Their fingers entwined automatically, liked they had walked holding hands forever.

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><p>"You still remember when we first met?", she asked on their way home. Prosper nodded. He had been twelve years old back then, Bo only five. Now his little brother was almost nine, having spent half of his lifetime in Venice. "It's unbelievable how long we've been here," he replied. "It seems like just yesterday... My Italian was so bad..." "You got better though. You're a quick learner." Hornet smiled at him. He blushed and turned away. "Things have definitely changed a lot," she noticed. "I..." She hesitated, Prosper threw a glance at her. "Yes?" "I wanted to talk to you about something, Prop..." They had entered a small alley which led to the Campo Santa Margherita, near which the Casa Spavento stood. "The thing is... Feelings change too, Prop." "I know." Prosper knew how easily a friend could become an enemy or the other way round. That's why he was careful with people.<p>

He looked at Hornet but she stared at her feet as they walked through the alley, side by side, holding hands. He could tell she was uneasy. "What's wrong, Hornet?", he asked. "You didn't tell me yesterday, so at least try today." She glanced at him and then turned her eyes back on the street. "I like you, Prosper." "I know. I like you too. A lot." "How much?" "I don't know... Probably not as much as Bo but still... I like you in a different way." "Different sounds nice." Hornet smiled at him slightly. Prosper was confused. "I shouldn't tell you...," she said in a low voice. "I..." She let go of Prospers hand, facing him. "I think I fell in love with you, Prosper." She looked at him, a bit sad, definitely worried and scared. Prosper's heart started pounding so fast he felt like having to catch his breath. He didn't know what to say nor what to do. He just stood there, looking at Hornet, trying to grasp what she had just told him. She had fallen in love with him. At least she thought she had. "That's..." Prosper couldn't find a fitting word. He tried to crack a smile. "Not a problem, I guess," he finally said. Hornet beamed at him. "I had hoped so," she whispered, putting her arms around his neck and softly kissing him on the lips.

When they got home around midnight, holding hands, Ida and Victor were still awake, sitting in the kitchen, and with them was a young man who was quite familiar to both of them. "Scipio!" Hornet smiled and let go of Prosper's hand to fling her arms around the ex-Thief Lord. "I thought you'd forgotten", she exclaimed. Scipio grinned. "Of course not. How could I when you marked the day in my calendar with yellow marker pen?" Hornet, still smiling, turned around to Prosper to fetch his hand. "We went out... on a date", she said, pulling Prosper closer. "Well, it was about time, wasn't it?", Ida replied smiling. Hornet and Prosper both looked at her confused. "I was asking myself just yesterday how long it would take you two to realize that you like each other." "Oh", Prosper said, blushing. Hornet giggled and put her arms around him. "That's the best birthday present I got, Prop", she whispered.

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><p>The first thing Bo saw when he came down to the kitchen the next morning were Prosper and Hornet. They were standing in front of the fridge, arms around each other, kissing. "Well," said Bo. "If you ask me, <span>that<span> doesn't look like brother and sister at all." Smiling the two of them turned around. "Get used to it, Bo," Prosper said. Bo just shrugged his shoulders. "As long as you don't forget I'm still around..." Hornet and Prosper exchanged looks. Then they both jumped at Bo and gave him a peck on the cheek.


End file.
